Ammonium Removal from Municipal Landfill Leachate by Clinoptilolite Bed Columns: Breakthrough Modeling and Error Analysis

Abstract

In this study, a clinoptilolite bed column system was used to remove ammonium from municipal landfill leachate. Laboratory-scale column experiments were conducted in upflow fixed-bed and fluidized-bed modes with different ammonium concentrations. Ammonium removal was managed mainly by Ca2+ and K+ cations of clinoptilolite, and higher treatment performances were obtained at lower flow rates. On the other hand, higher effluent volumes and removal rates were produced by lower ammonium concentrations, and increased expansion ratios in the fluidized-bed column reduced the treatment efficiency. The sum of normalized errors (SNE) procedure was applied using five different error functions to model the experimental data. The Clark and Yoon−Nelson kinetic models were applied to column data to predict the breakthrough data, and the results indicated that the Clark model is better for modeling the experimental data. Ammonia stripping was investigated as a pretreatment step to obtain lower ammonium concentrations in the effluent. With a 12-h aeration time at pH 12, the ammonium concentration of leachate was decreased from about 3000 to below 400 mg/L. These results indicate that combining ammonia stripping and an upflow fixed-bed system is feasible in reducing higher ammonium concentrations to satisfactory levels.

Removal of ammonium from municipal landfill leachate using natural zeolites

“…Various treatment technologies have been applied to remove ammonium from leachate, such as biological processes, [5,6] electro-oxidation, [7,8] air stripping, [3,4] chemical precipitation, [9,10] adsorption and ion exchange. [1,11] Among these treatment methods, ion exchange using zeolites is very attractive due to its low cost and relatively simple application. [1,11] More than 50 species of natural zeolites have been recognized in the world.…”

“…[1,11] Among these treatment methods, ion exchange using zeolites is very attractive due to its low cost and relatively simple application. [1,11] More than 50 species of natural zeolites have been recognized in the world. [12] Zeolites contain exchangeable cations, such as K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , in its structural framework.…”

“…[12] Zeolites contain exchangeable cations, such as K + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ , in its structural framework. [11] Ammonium ions in the leachate can replace these cations * Corresponding author. Email: eeng@whu.edu.cn via the following reaction [12]:…”

Investigation on natural and pretreated Bulgarian clinoptilolite for ammonium ions removal from aqueous solutions

“…Ammonia and ammonium ions are the more commonly encountered N compounds in waste water and groundwater. There are different methods for removing ammonium ions from wastewaters: air stripping, chemical treatment, selective ion exchange, adsorption and biological nitrification-denitrification [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Previously we reported that carbon obtained from Bulgarian lignite from Chukurovo deposit by one-step steam pyrolysis-activation followed by oxidative modification gave comparable results despite its worse texture parameters as compared with Norit GAC 1240 oxidized in an analogous way and was a more promising adsorbent as a means of ammonia removal from aqueous solutions [8].…”

“…The various aspects of removal from aqueous solutions by clinoptilolite have been investigated by many researchers [6,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. It is reported to have a classical alumina silicate age-like structure.…”